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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24402676">Poseidon | Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfiction</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Varenstein/pseuds/Varenstein'>Varenstein</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure, Eventual Romance, F/M, Teen Romance, Waterbending &amp; Waterbenders, king of the ocean</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:26:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,004</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24402676</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Varenstein/pseuds/Varenstein</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A story between a boy who'd refused to be the avatar, so he can be king of the ocean and the blind earth-bender shortie whom he would kneel for.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Toph Beifong &amp; Original Male Character(s), Toph Beifong/Original Male Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Return Of The New Avatar</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>P.S. This is a Toph x OC fanfiction</p><p>(Note: I do NOT own the rights to any of these characters. These belong to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. I'd also like to thank them for coming up with The Last Airbender, as it inspired me to write this Fanfic.)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>  "Water~ Earth~ Fire~ Air." Long ago, these 4 elements blended with each other in harmony. And in those days lies what everyone liked to call a time of peace. It's when the Avatar kept balance between the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads.</p><p>But, everything had drastically changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar mastered all four elements — only he could stop the ruthless Firebenders, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. Now, a hundred years have passed and the Fire Nation is nearing victory in the current ongoing war. "I wonder whatever did happen to Aang. He was sure to become a good avatar, I just know it."</p><p>When Aang and I first met one another, I most definitely thought that he was immature, but it was normal for his young age. In a few years, he would have already evolved and taken up the mantle of Avatar like Roku and Kiyoshi did when it was their time.</p><p>To tell you the truth, both were more similar to Aang than one would initially think of them, especially when they were kids — clumsy, impulse, and of course, childish. But like Aang, the weight that the title of Avatar holds was unbearable to the two, both had been excessively overwhelmed with their responsibilities as peacekeepers. They had thoughts, dreams, and desires of abandoning their Avatar duties.</p><p>Kiyoshi even went as far afield in wanting to wield her powerful gift in enacting vengeance — the only difference was, Aang actually went through with it. He disappeared off the face of this planet and no one knew where he went. And due to that, people started believing that the Avatar was never reborn into the Air Nomads and the cycle was broken, but I believed otherwise.</p><p>For a whole century, I scoured all around the globe in search for any clues regarding Aang's whereabouts and it looks like today is the day my hard work pays off. Only a day ago, I felt within me the Avatar state awakening once more near down from the south. "We'll finally meet once again, Aang."</p><p>But, now you may be asking yourself, how was I able to sense Aang's power? Well, I was a bit of an Avatar myself until I agave it all up and passed it onto my old friend, Kuruk. Fortunately for us, some of the power still resonated me that I could have some sort of spiritual connection with the current living Avatar.</p><p>Another question you may want answered is how did I managed to easily transfer my Avatar prowess down to someone else? Well, that'll be answered a day different from now. It's sorta complicated and pretty much too long of a story to tell in one sitting. But, I could explain how old I currently am that 12 generations worth of Avatars were my friends.</p><p>So, technically I'm 414 years old, but I'm only 14 biologically. Weird, huh? Being The King of The Ocean grants you immense perks like immortality! Yet, by immortality, I meant not continuing to physically age further pass my current form. Although, I assure you that my body is not made out of steel and <b>can </b>get badly bruised to the point of me dying due to it.</p><p>And just so you'd know what to call me by — my name's Poseidon! Former 179th candidate in line of Avatar, now not so world-renowned King of The Ocean. I have dark, messy hair that contrasts my pale skin, I have baby blue eyes, and possess the average height for a teenage boy which is 164cm. However I do found it strange how my hair kept growing, yet the rest of body didn't. I basically had to cut it every few months or so to keep it from growing shoulders length.</p><p>"I sure do love me some fish." I say to no one in particular. As of now, I'm in the South Pole roasting a piece of cod that I caught earlier on with waterbending.</p><p>I was originally coming here anyways, but Aang's long-awaited return made me enthusiastic for it. "Oh, hey little guy!"</p><p>My words bewildered the lonesome penguin waddling towards me. "Wait, no, don't go! Here, want some fish?"</p><p>It looked at me eerily, not moving for it still worked it's brains out whether to trust my offering or not. Then, it waddled closer, and closer, and closer until it finally gobbled up all my food and cuddled up beside me. "Aw, aren't you a cutie? I think I'll dub you... Icee."</p><p>Hey, this actually reminded me of something: Aang loved to go penguin sledding before, maybe I copied entice him in coming out of his hermit igloo or whatever with Icee? Technically, he should be a more than hundred years old as of today, but it's worth a try in my opinion at least. "What do you say, my four-flippered friend? Would you like to aid me in catching a century-old fossil?"</p><p>Not fully understanding where I was getting at, Icee only looked at me with a tilted head meaning obvious confusion. I suppose you actually have to propose to others what your master plan was before asking them to join you in your endeavors. "Okay, Icee, here's the plan..."</p><p>But, as I were about to unfold my grand scheme, I heard something strange being fired into the clouds a few miles from where I was at — it's a red smoking flare? I didn't connect at first, but I immediately rose up at the thought of Aang being the cause. "Hey Icee, since I gave you all my food, could you possibly give me a lift?"</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Meeting A Childhood Friend</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Thanks for the lift, Icee." I say as I hopped off my new-found friend's back. I gotta say, I now know why Aang loved these guys so much. "Take care of yourself, okay?"</p><p>So, this is where he'd been hiding himself for a hundred years, huh? It's a ship! And just from the very detailed deigned of it, it looked to be owned by the Fire Nation, many years old though. A pretty good spot to stay hidden from me — like geez, honestly, a whole century? This had got to be the world's longest hide 'n seek game ever.</p><p>But... it's still ongoing. Technically, I haven't seen him yet, and so the game continues. "Aang, are you in there?"</p><p>I went inside to check inside, but it was empty as it was rusty. There were heaps of cobwebs, dusts, and weapons lying around, but no Aang anywhere. "Aang, did aging take a toll on your hearing?"</p><p>It wasn't like I would know, but I have heard from Kuruk and the others that it's normal. So, I shouted louder which echoed longer throughout the whole vessel. "Aang! Come out, come out, wherever you are!"</p><p>***</p><p>Nope, I guess he already left. An hour's worth spent on searching, yet no reward? Wow, Aang, thanks a lot. Well, it'd be best if we get a move on as well then if I want a chance to catch up to the old geezer. But how? And what's that gigantic thing trudging along the snow hills?</p><p>Wait... no way! "Appa!"</p><p>I raced the fields of snow to reach him, tumbling and all! Woah, it's been so dang long since I've been able to ride a flying bison. "Appa, how are y—"</p><p>Okay, gross, maybe I should've kept my distance. Now I'm in sticky bison saliva. At least I'm reunited with him, that's some good news. Still though, where's Aang? How far did this old man could have possibly gone? He even left his flying bison here by himself.</p><p>And now that I've mentioned it, Appa looks incredibly the same as we've last met. Not a day older, nor has his hair or horns grew. "Hold on, could you have..."</p><p>Nah, Aang must've been trimming him all this time. He couldn't have spoken to it, could he? "So, where were you going, big guy? Back to your owner? Can I come with? I have a bone to pick with him."</p><p>He signaled me to get on his back, and so I hopped on did. "Yip, yip!"</p><p>And... we're walking? Okay, so usually Appa loved flying, but I figured that he must be tired hence why he isn't. No worries though, because I'm sure we would be soaring through the skies in only a little while after he's feeling rejuvenated.</p><p>"Where he heading off to, anyways?" If I recall correctly, this direction is towards the south water tribe. Hey, maybe I'll get to see that old water hag again.</p><p>She hated me for calling her that, I did loved seeing her so frustrated about it because some kids just never grow, know what I mean? Though technically I'm a hundreds of years old, I still get a knack for annoying the onslaught of people around me.</p><p>"Ah, good times." I sighed as just my attention started to fade out of my flashback.</p><p>"Appa!" I heard someone else yell, particularly a young lady running towards us.</p><p>She hugged him immediately, but I failed in noticing the person watching her on top. She looked to be somewhere between her teenage years, and strangely resembles Kanna when she was younger.</p><p>"Um, you are?" I questioned.</p><p>"Oh!" She finally laid her eyes on me and was startled. "Well, I could be asking you the same thing."</p><p>"I asked first."</p><p>"I'm Katara!" She told me as she took off both her gloves. "And Appa's actually my friend's bison, so may we possibly have him back?"</p><p>"You're friends bison?" So, you're an acquaintance of Aang's?</p><p>Aang, you sly dog! For managing to score such a beauty like her is plain lu— wait a minute, how old is she? Aang, you old pervert, how could you I would never go down such a route!</p><p>"Exactly, and if you don't return Appa to us now, I may have to use force..."</p><p>Force? Is she a Waterbender? But, I thought they were all captured by the Fire Nation some time ago?</p><p>"Poseidon, is that you?" I almost didn't recognize her at first, but Kanna now neared the two of us. And thankfully, she stopped the young waterbending lady from combatting.</p><p>"Hey, water hag! How've you been doing?"</p><p>"How are you still so young?" You haven't aged a day since we've last seen one another!"</p><p>"I already told you, you water hag: I'm Poseidon, The King of The Ocean! So, I'm basically immortal." I announced with flamboyancy.</p><p>I saw at the corner of my vision that she put up an agitated look, but I'm guessing that it must've been because of the hag part. Welp, looks like I'm gonna get ear-pinch in just a second.</p><p>"Woah!" Nope, save by the supposed Waterbender. "You're immortal? How's that even possible?"</p><p>"Uh-huh, immortal? King of The Ocean? Right, and I'm the king of the flying bisons!" A scrawny guy mocked, appearing only recently between Kanna and the young lady.</p><p>"Um, dude, Appa here is the last living sky bison..."</p><p>"Oh..." He looked down, scratching the back of his head in shame for bringing up such a touchy subject. "Sorry... Appa."</p><p>"Please excuse my brother's stupidity and rudeness, but how exactly can we know that you're telling the truth and be trusted? Immortality is not really something relatively common to, well, anything."</p><p>"Didn't you hear what I just said? I'm The King of The Ocean!"</p><p>"That still doesn't explain why or how you're immortal." The scrawny guy pointed out.</p><p>"I believe him." Kanna expressed to us all, but we just looked eerie at her. Wanting an answer, we stayed silent and waited for one. I myself am curious to know why she does what she says she does.</p><p>"Poseidon here have never been that much of a liar. I've known him since I were just a spring chicken. Anything he does, or may do is proven though his actions. And here I see him now with not even a single wrinkle on his ever so smug face, that he's telling the truth."</p><p>"Okay, so now what?" The scrawny guy once again cuts himself in. "He's immortal, we've got Appa, and Aang's still being kept by those Fire Nation jerks. Are we just gonna stand her all day or are go after their ship?"</p><p>"We go after them, of course." But, now they're the ones who looked eerily at me. "What? I've got some business with him as well."</p><p>"Well, whatever you three plan on doing, you better act on it fast." Said Kanna. "The world's only hope is bit by bit drifting further away from us."</p><p>The water hag gave both of the youngsters a hug each. "Good luck, my little waterbender. Too you as well, my brave warrior."</p><p>Then, she gave the two a nod of which I can only assume meant an affirmation before they both climbed up one at a time up Appa's tail onto his back with each of their own two sleeping bags.</p><p>"Here let me help." I offered my hand to the young lady. "My name's Poseidon, by the way. Yours is?"</p><p>"Katara."</p><p>I then offered my hand to the scrawny guy climbing second. "And you are?"</p><p>"It's Sokka."</p><p>Cool, let's all get along shall we? I'm getting a feeling that we've strapped ourselves for a very long and tedious ride and I was not talking about just saving Aang from the firebenders.</p><p>"And Poseidon!" Oh, wait, the old hag calls. "If you ever ran into trouble don't be afraid to hold back! Protect my grandchildren, will you?"</p><p>"I'll try me best." I flash her a warm and assuring smile. "See you later!"</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Rescuing The Last Airbender</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As of now, we've been out swimming about for like what, 10 minutes or so? And we weren't really covering any massive distance between us and the fire nation ship that took Aang. That silly goose, how'd he even get himself captured in the first place?</p><p>"<b>Go</b>... <b>Fly</b>... <b>Soar</b>..." Sokka boredly said.</p><p>"<b>Up</b>... <b>Ascend</b>... <b>Elevate</b>..." Once more did Sokka try to effortlessly giddy up Appa, our flying bison. And up to this point, Katara was pretty much annoyed at the way her brother was acting negatively.</p><p>She lowered her head close so only Appa could hear and started whispering words of encouragement at him, but it didn't really worked out the way she thought it would. "Sokka doesn't believe you can fly, but I do, Appa. Come on, don't you wanna save Aang?"</p><p>"Of course he does, Katara." I said. "But, if you want Appa to take off into the air, then better say the magic words."</p><p>"...Please?" She tilted her head in question.</p><p>"What is it that kid said? <b>Yee</b>-<b>haw</b>? <b>Huff</b>-<b>huff</b>? <b>Wahoo</b>?"</p><p>"Actually, Sokka..." He raised an eyebrow at me. "It's yip-yip!"</p><p>It wasn't long before we were high in the sky, flying after those words escaped my lips. It felt so good to have the wind blow past your face, it was the cool breeze of the south. Too long have I gone without riding a bison, and it felt great to do so once again!</p><p>However, I can't figure out whether Sokka there was having a stroke or was living the moment exaggeratedly to even get ahold of himself. "HE'S FLYING! HE'S FLYING!"</p><p>Katara and I shared a look of amusement before her brother noticed how much we were laughing at his ridiculousness. "KATARA! POSEIDON! HE'S FL—"</p><p>"I mean... pfft, big deal, he's flying."</p><p>"It's fine, Sokka." I said while wiping a tear of my eye. "Just take it all in, I was the exact same way when I was introduced to these guys."</p><p>Honestly, his reaction wasn't all that grand to witness. I'm more weirded out by Katara's. She was barely impressed, who doesn't enjoy the thrill of being in the clouds? I supposed Sokka was indeed more skeptical of the whole thing, so it made sense.</p><p>***</p><p>It wasn't long before we all caught to Aang and his captivators. And from down there on the ship's deck, I can see him trying to defend against a firebender. He was struggling to hold him off and is close to falling over the side of the large, moving ship. Unfortunately, he did in fact took a wrong step that sent him overboard and into the freezing water below.</p><p>Katara was quick on her feet and almost dove off herself, but to no avail since I held her in place. "AANG! NO!"</p><p>"Crud." Sokka leaned over the edge of Appa's huge saddle. "Did he fell in?"</p><p>"Sokka, keep Katara from jumping." I said as I pass her to her brother.</p><p>"Woah, hold on!" He protested. "What do you think you're doing?"</p><p>I stood up and took off anything that could be potentially heavy and bothersome to me while trying to save Aang, but before I got the chance to even dislodge my stuff sack, there was this familiar feeling within that halted my actions.</p><p>"Don't worry Katara." I sat back down and showed a warm smile to her in an attempt to her worries. "Aang's fine!"</p><p>And as if on cue, he bursted out of the iceberg-filled waters in a whirlpool-like state, boarding back down on the ship and bended the water to knock down several firebenders surrounding him.</p><p>"Did you see what he just did?" Hey, that's the avatar state for ya.</p><p>"Now, <b>that </b>is some waterbending!" It sure was, Sokka, it sure was.</p><p>Quickly, Appa landed down where Aang passed out immediately after his amazing performance of waterbending. The three of us ran over and helped him climb up his flying bison to make a fast getaway, but the trouble we've gotten ourselves into has yet to die down.</p><p>As we started gaining altitude away from the fire nation vessel, two firebenders from below casted a huge fireball and launched it our way.</p><p>"Um, you guys..." Ultimately, Sokka was the first to notice and pointed it out. "THERE'S A FIREBALL HEADING OUR DIRECTION!"</p><p>"Everyone, get down!" Aang rose up carrying his staff. "I'll ha—"</p><p>"Excuse me, Aang." I said, stepping in front of him. "Leave this one to me."</p><p>"What the? Who are yo— Wait! Poseidon?"</p><p>I stood at Appa's rear end and displayed my own skilful waterbending. What? I couldn't let Aang take all the glory now, could I? I quickly drew mass amount of water and shaped it as a gigantic hand erecting from within the cold seas. I caught the flying ball of flames and extinguished it just before it collided with Appa's tushies.</p><p>Though, just to spite the fire nation, I made the water hand display a big ol' peace sign before letting it disperse back down in a rainy fashion, pouring down so much liquid onto their ship's deck that it started sinking due to the weight it was carrying on board.</p><p>"Bye-bye, fire nation, I suppose." I shrugged, but the rest of the guys just looked on in awe.</p><p>"Okay, what Aang did was impressive, but <b>you</b>!" Sokka expressed. "You're on a whole different level."</p><p>"No kidding." Aang agreed. "Wait... what did I just do?"</p><p>"Katara, you're being left in the dust here." That last comment he made ticked off her sister though, and resulted in him receiving a pinch on the ear.</p><p>***</p><p>After an hour's worth of silent flying, Katara finally had enough of it and decided to start discreetly interrogating both Aang and I. "Hey, Poseidon, what you did back there was incredible!"</p><p>"..."</p><p>It took me a second to notice her complimenting me because of the fantastic and distracting view from up where we currently are, but hey, I answered now didn't I? "Oh, thanks, Katara!"</p><p>"Was that because you're King of The Ocean?"</p><p>"Eh, more or less."</p><p>"And Aang. You were just as good, if not better! The waterbending you two did was the most amazing thing I've ever witness, how did you do that?"</p><p>The young monk turned around to face us, yet he kept his mouth shut.</p><p>"Aang?"</p><p>He sighed, but eventually caved in and got off from Appa's head to plopped down the actual saddle where the rest of us were. "I... don't exactly know..." He confessed. "...I just sort of did it."</p><p>Now, that was more of a cough out than mine was. Come on Aang, Avatar? Remember? It's only been like, what, a hundred years or so? Granted, he actually looks great.</p><p>"What on earth?" I silently whispered to myself. Aang looks even younger than me! What the heck happened to him during the century he went missing? I'll keep a reminder to ask later.</p><p>"Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?" Katara eventually asked. And, here we go, now we're getting into the real questions.</p><p>"Because..." Come on Aang, answer truthfully. "...I never wanted to be."</p><p>Well, that was reasonable. It was something we both had in common, except Aang couldn't just pass it down onto someone else like I did.</p><p>"But, Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar to return and finally put an end to this war!"</p><p>"And how am I going to do that?" By mastering all elements, of course.</p><p>"According to legend: you must first master water, then earth, then fire, right?" Bingo.</p><p>"That was what the monks told me."</p><p>"Well, if we go to the North Pole, you can master waterbending. There should be loads of great and powerful waterbenders there alike."</p><p>"We can learn it together!"</p><p>"And Sokka..." She turned around to face her brother. "I'm sure you'll get to knock some firebender heads on the way."</p><p>"I'd like that, I'd <b>really </b>like that." He replied twice.</p><p>"Then, we're in this together." But, then she realized that was still there. "Oh, Poseidon... we can count on you to help us, right?"</p><p>"Sure. I mean, I did technically promised Kanna that you two would be protected and all."</p><p>"Thank you, Poseidon."</p><p>"Alright!" Aang excitedly said and laid down an old world map. "But, before we learn waterbending, we have some serious business to attend to!"</p><p>He pointed and marked out several destination as detours that we all have to head off towards — every single one, I've recognised and it made me realised that this whole trip is about to become even more hectic than it needed to be.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Revisiting The Air Temples</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Sokka, wake up! There's a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!"</p><p>It didn't take long for the non-bender to spring upwards in total panic. He screamed, hoped, and trashed around until he tripped and fell flat on dirt which prompt Aang, Katara, and I to laugh heartily. That what he gets for sleeping in late, I suppose.</p><p>"Nice one, Aang." I expressed.</p><p>"Yeah... real nice." Sokka scowled as he tries to tidy himself while standing up.</p><p>"Hey, I tried waking you normally, buuuut..." Aang trailed off.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah, come on. Let's get ourselves to this Air Temple of yours."</p><p>"Great! We don't wanna be late."</p><p>"Late for what?" Katara asked as she helps pull the airbender up Appa's back. "Is someone waiting for us."</p><p>"Kinda." He replied. "And we're about a hundred years late. I can only hope that whoever they are, they're not mad."</p><p>"Hey, Aang." I called his attention.</p><p>"Yeah, Poseidon? What is it?"</p><p>I opened my mouth to unveil to him the bitter truth about what happened during the past century, but not a single word came out. I knew that it'd be better to tell him now rather than to let him find out later, but I could not bring it upon myself to do so.</p><p>"Just... prepare yourself for what's to come, alright?"</p><p>He gave me a look that shared feelings of sadness and confusion, but it quickly faded away as a massive smile was showed after him spacing out. "Hey, I have a question."</p><p>I raised an eyebrow at him.</p><p>"HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?"</p><p>"Rude." Did he even hear a word I previously said?</p><p>"Sorry, but I wanna know, we're you incased inside an iceberg as well, Poseidon? I keep wanting to ask you yesterday, except it always slipped my mind."</p><p>I sighed as I figured out what he were doing. "Aang, you know you can't just blindly believe that things would be the same as you left it a hundred years ago."</p><p>There was a slight pause before he answered back, making Katara seemed to pick up on the tension that the two of us were sharing and stared silently on our conversation.</p><p>"What're you talking about, Poseidon? I just want to know how you're still alive, you barely even aged since I last saw you! Then again, neither have I..."</p><p>"He's The King of The Ocean." We faced our left to see Sokka finally climbing on board after packing all the things he brought neatly. "What? Weren't you asking why he still hasn't aged since you two met?"</p><p>He sat down and fastened his duffel bag tightly onto any part of Appa's saddle that can hold it.</p><p>"Well, yeah, but that still doesn't explain ho—"</p><p>"Being King of The Ocean makes him immortal."</p><p>"Woah, really?" He turn to me in clear astonishment plastered across his whole face.</p><p>I gave him a nod.</p><p>"So, what exactly are we all waiting on?" Sokka asked no one in particular.</p><p>"Oh, right!" Aang quickly grabbed Appa's halter and got ready to take off. "Hold on, everyone. Appa, yip-yip!"</p><p>I guess that marks the end of this conversation. Aang has lived past a whole lifetime, yet everything about him stayed the way they were since he was 12. It isn't always a bad thing, but I do concern myself about how he'll deal with it all. "So far so good, I suppose."</p><p>***</p><p>"So, that's where my friends and I would play air all. And over there is where the bisons would sleep. And..." Aang trailed off.</p><p>"Something wrong, Aang?" Katara asked.</p><p>"This place used to be full of monks, and lemurs, and bisons. Now there's just a bunch of weeds... I can't believe how much has changed."</p><p>My thoughts of us making a mistake by coming here was growing more and more by the second. Being an Avatar required you to be strong in all sorts of meticulous ways, and that includes having strength <b>emotionally — </b>truthfully, I tried diverting our course earlier, but the faint realisation that Aang needed to see it with his own eyes for destiny's sake forbid me.</p><p>And he ain't seen nothing yet. I just hope he can handle most of it. "Me too, buddy. Me too."</p><p>There was a brief moment of silence that fell among the four of us. The cold wind blowing past only made the scene more dramatic. Then, I saw Katara elbowed her brother to make him act upon the situation.</p><p>"So, uh..." He starts saying as he put a hand on top of Aang's shoulder in an attempt to make him feel better. "...This air ball game, how do you play?"</p><p>We all quickly got down there to make a pit stop. Soon, the two climbed up each of their own erected poles and played multiple rounds of air ball while Katara joined me on the sides to act as spectators. The game went on for a few minutes and by each passing one, Aang won every round so far. Currently, their total score were 6-0. To end the match, arrow head blasted his ball towards the water tribe warrior, causing him to hurdle down the gigantic post where he once stood, finalising their points to 7-0.</p><p>Sokka landed on the snow to our left, barely grazing Katara and I. "Making him feel better is putting me in a world of hurt." He whined before pulling himself up.</p><p>"Hey, guys, check this out." What is it?</p><p>Katara and I walked near him to bare witness a Fire Nation helmet buried in the snow — you may have already picked up on the multiple hints that were laid down earlier, but let me confess: I've been here already. I have done so many times to pay my respects for the dead. All of the corpse are already buried, but I, in fact, have missed some. "Fire Nation."</p><p>"We should tell him." I suppose now's a good time since we have with us some solid evidence.</p><p>We all looked at one another and agreed. "Aang! There's something you need to see."</p><p>He got down from his pillar and came right away upon hearing his name. But, for some strange reason, Katara immediately covered the gear with piles of snow, burying it under along with Sokka.</p><p>"What is it?"</p><p>"Uh, just a new waterbending move I learned."</p><p>"Nice one, but enough practicing. We have a whole temple to see!"</p><p>I stood scratching my head, but one view at Katara's worried glances at me and I immediately figured out why she did what she did. I can't say I blame her, although it wasn't really the best course of action.</p><p>"Hold on, Aang." I say, making him stop dead on his tracks to face me. "Don't you want a rematch?"</p><p>I pointed at the snowy air ball field. "If I recall, we were on 4-0, right?"</p><p>Then, with his sudden revelation, his face now lit up with excitement. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot! Um, Katara, Sokka, could you guys wait a little? I wanna see if I can best Poseidon here at least once."</p><p>"Go ahead, you two." Sokka answered before forcefully dragging her sister away on towards the long flight of stairs. "Katara and I actually have something important to talk about, <b>don't we</b>?"</p><p>"Well, shall we begin?" I asked my opponent.</p><p>"Get ready, Poseidon. I'll win this time!" Aang said, <b>for like the fourth time in a row</b>. "But wait — hold on, how're you gonna play? Most of the water here turned into snow."</p><p>"You don't have to worry about me, Aang. I'll be fine, trust me."</p><p>"If you say so."</p><p>He shrugged, hurrying up to his side of the court while I just stand here. As soon as he was on top of the post, he looked down to see me not moving even a little.</p><p>"See? I knew it wouldn't be fair. You can't even use your waterbending get up here."</p><p>He says that now, but does he notice my hands that are hidden behind my back? "What're you talking about Aang? I can wanterbend perfectly fine!"</p><p>"You ca—" He wasn't able to finish his question due to the ball that fiercely came shooting towards him like a bullet. It barely grazes over his right shoulder as it flew right into the goal, earning me another point. "Woah, how did yo—"</p><p>Once again, he didn't get to finish because he was visibly shock to find me, not on the ground, but on top of a pillar <b>made entirely out of liquid</b>. And there weren't just one, there were tens — no hundreds of them all forming around us, making the playing grounds a whole lot larger. "That me, 5... And Aang, 0."</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Discovering Secrets Of The Sanctuary</h2></a>
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    <p>I never really took the time to properly understand airball, thus making it useless for me to explain how one actually wins said game. All I gathered from watching Aang and the other young monks in training was that you have to score as many points as possible. I assume that the two players go against one another until one grew bored with their match. Otherwise, we'd go on forever.</p><p>"6-0... 7-0... Step it up, Aang." I started bragging. "Winning all the of time can make the game a bit tiresome, you know?"</p><p>Aaand, would you look at that, the ball flew right past me. Maybe I should hold off on any boasting before the game actually ends in the future. I guest this marks the end of our match, Aang already dove onto the green ground below and started celebrating.</p><p>"YEAH! I finally bested you, Poseidon!" Aang rejoiced. "Now, I can say that I officially won a game of airball against The King of The Ocean."</p><p>"Alright, alright. The tally is still 7-1 though, so you technically only won a <b>round</b>."</p><p>"Hey, I'll take it." He jogged over towards the mountain's stairs. "Are you coming? I bet Katara and Sokka are waiting on us at the top."</p><p>"Sure, Aang, just hold on a sec."</p><p>I looked all around, searching for a proper place to store all this water, but it looks as though there isn't any. So, I decided to materialise it back into snow by having it vapor. The water pillars cooled down eventually, then turned back into white and fluffy snow, covering the once temporary grassy fields that I stood on.</p><p>"How'd you do that?" Asked Aang.</p><p>"Do what? Waterbending?" I asked him back, all the while we stepped on each stair that was presented before us.</p><p>"The turning water into snow thing. As far as I knew, waterbenders could only turn water into ice. Neither could they turn that into water, only control it."</p><p>"King's perks, I guess. It's just things you eventually learn if you've lived as long as I did."</p><p>"That's cool... Say, if you're that strong, couldn't you just end the war yourself? You won't even need me."</p><p>I visibly sighed beside him. "Aang, it's not that simple. I may have extraordinary abilities unlike anyone else's, but I can't exactly go up against the Fire Lord."</p><p>"Well, why not?"</p><p>"Look, I'll tell you another time, ok? Let's just focus on getting you to the North Pole."</p><p>"Oh, ok." Aang had a questioning look displayed on his face, but he decided not to press on further. "But, wait a minute. Why go to the North Pole?"</p><p>"To get you a waterbending teacher, of course. Have you forgotten already?"</p><p>"No, I mean, couldn't <b>you </b>just teach me? Come on, I'm sure that four hundred year old brain of yours is capable enough of teaching this one lousy airbender, am I right?"</p><p>"Actually... you would think that, but you're actually dead wrong, Aang."</p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>"Aang." I chuckled. "The only thing that you'll be learning from me is how much I suck at teaching. Trust me, both Roku and Kiyoshi would agree. I tried instructing them once on how to sculpt a full body statue made entirely out of water, but it resulted looking like one of Picasso's many artworks."</p><p>"Who's Pic— You taught master Roku and master Kiyoshi?!"</p><p>"I <b>tried</b>, Aang. Needless to say, Roku ended up travelling to the North Pole as well... Kiyoshi? Well, I don't actually know how she learned waterbending, probably by going to the North Pole too."</p><p>If I had to guess, you'd have to at least get a good 700 hundred steps in before reaching the mountain top. A great exercise regiment really, but it wasn't as though I come here often. Before fully reaching the temple entrance however, Aang and I both hear two people arguing. It was mostly muffled, yet it was also fairly obvious that the two in quarrel are Katara and Sokka.</p><p>"Look, Katara, I just think tha—"</p><p>"Ahem, you two weren't arguing, were you?"</p><p>The first one to notice us was Katara, and she pushed past her brother to greet us. "Oh, not at all, Sokka's just being grumpy since he still hasn't eaten yet! <b>Isn't that right</b>, <b>Sokka</b>?"</p><p>He made a certain look at Katara, but agreed nonetheless. "Yeah, what she says..."</p><p>I wasn't convinced though. I'm sure that Sokka tried swaying her into telling Aang about the Fire Nation helmet we all found earlier, but she didn't budge — That's just my theory anyway. Honestly, I didn't want him to suffer from the feeling of grief, but everyone has to in their lives. He may still be a kid, but he's also the Avatar. They have to be used to this sort of things. It'll only get worse if he doesn't.</p><p>And speaking of Aang, I haven't even noticed that he was already staring at a stone statue of my old friend, Gyatso. Who was also Aang's former master. The young monk bowed as a means of respect, but I assume he was recollecting his their past memories together. All their fun times throwing pies on top of other monks' bald heads, chasing down lemurs, or just talking about life as it was.</p><p>"You must miss him." Katara says.</p><p>"Yeah..." Aang melancholically responded and immediately took off.</p><p>"Where're you going?" She asked another question.</p><p>"The air temple sanctuary! There's someone I'm ready to meet." Ready, huh? Let us hope you are.</p><p>"Hey, Poseidon!" Sokka called, staying behind both Katara and Aang who are already on their way through the building. "Hold on a sec."</p><p>"What is it, Sokka?"</p><p>"I, uh — Can I get your thoughts on something?"</p><p>"Is it regarding you and your sister's argument earlier?"</p><p>"...<b>Kinda</b>."</p><p>I urged him to walk with me in an attempt to catch up on our other two companions before talking.</p><p>***</p><p>Soon, we saw the both of them ahead of us in a reasonable distance. "So, what'd you think? Should we tell him?"</p><p>"Definitely." It's best for Aang to finally realize, us lying to him will make the outcome worsen to when he actually sees.</p><p>"But what about Katara? I really don't think that she'll be onboard with whatever it is we're doing."</p><p>She can't pretend that firebenders weren't here forever. Albeit, I do understand why she's doing so. "Listen, Sokka, when given the chance, tell Aang everything. The moment you two are alone, don't hold back on anything."</p><p>"Got it."</p><p>"And I'll deal with Katara. I'll try my best to convince her, it shouldn't be that hard, should it?"</p><p>"<b>I don't know</b>... My sister can be pretty stubborn at times."</p><p>"Then, wish me luck." I quickly told him right before all four of us came to an abrupt stop in front of a huge wooden temple door.</p><p>"I'be always wondered what's in there." I thought out loud.</p><p>"Same here!" Aang agreed. "Monk Gyatso told me that I wasn't ready to enter this place. So, naturally, I grew curious about it."</p><p>"But Aang, no one could have survived in there for a hundred years!" Katara voiced her worries.</p><p>"It's not impossible. I've survived in an iceberg for that long." He argued. "And how about Poseidon? He's practically lived four times the amount I had!"</p><p>"Good point."</p><p>"Guys, whoever's in there might help me figure out this Avatar thing!" Hopefully, anyway. Anyone's most likely better at teaching than me.</p><p>"And whoever's in there might have <b>a medley of delicious</b>, <b>cured meat</b>!" Sokka jumped in with his opinion, running face first into the blockade. Oh, and ever since this morning, Sokka's been trying to hunt for food. Just letting you know. "I don't suppose you have a key, do you?"</p><p>Well, there's no <b>key</b>, but their is airbending. Of course, I could never do that. Henceforth, we're lucky to have dear old Aang here with us. He voluntarily stepped up front, breathing in heavily and gathering as much air as he can into his lungs before forcing them out into the horn-like keyholes. It traveled along the lengthy, narrowing tubes and unlocked the sanctuary's gigantic, heavy entrance.</p><p>"Well?" Aang asked. "Who wants to go in first?"</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. What Lies Behind These Doors</h2></a>
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    <p>"Statues?" Sokka asked in bewilderment. "But where's all the dang meat?"</p><p>"Does everything really need to be about food?" I asked him.</p><p>"If you're <b>this </b>hungry, then yes. Absolutely!"</p><p>I sighed at his silliness, but it did provide a comedic relief of sorts. In all honesty, I thought that ghosts would've been inside this room, haunting it even. But, finding hardened clay of random figures is equally weird and disturbing.</p><p>"Who are all these people?" Katara furthered down the the center of the room.</p><p>Aang was inspecting something on the far left, but it looked as though he couldn't put his finger on just what it was that is bothering him. "I don't know, but... it feels like I know them somehow!"</p><p>"Aang, isn't that Roku right there?"</p><p>He faced me with a surprised face and looked forward to where I was pointing at. "Where?"</p><p>"Who's Roku?" Sokka jumped in the conversation.</p><p>"Well, some would've said he was the Avatar. Some would view him as a no-good firebender. But to me, he was a close friend."</p><p>"Huh, so he's a firebender?" Katara stared at what the three of us boys were talking about. "Then this girl right here on his left must've been an earthbender!"</p><p>My eyes widen slowly as I now only realise who the previous person in line was. A slight chuckle escaped my lips as I now only realised also that the room we were currently standing in was a room dedicated to every Avatar recorded to date. "I wonder if I have statue displayed here somewhere..."</p><p>"Why would they have a statue of you here?"</p><p>"All these statues of random strangers displayed in the dark are people who held great strength once. They were burdened with heavy duty as Avatars. They all took on the mantle like brave heroes and acted as the the four nation's sacred peacekeeper... <b><em>why would they have a statue of me here</em></b>? It just sounds like a silly thought to fantasise about, doesn't it?"</p><p>"Woah, hold on." Said Katara. "You did say Avatars, right?"</p><p>"Yep, every single one of them are indeed Avatars, Katara. From Wan to Roku — I'm not counting Aang since he's not a statue. Neither would I dare declare myself as one — they are all the sculptures of previous master of all elements."</p><p>"Oh, you're right! And look at the order, it goes as follows: Water, Earth, Fire, then Air. It's the Avatar cycle, so this must mean that all of these people used to Aang's past lives."</p><p>"Past lives?" Sokka mocked. "Katara, do you seriously believe in that stuff?"</p><p>"Of course, I do, Sokka. Gran Gran taught us that remember? Or maybe you just weren't paying attention?"</p><p>"Hey! I too listen Gran Gran... <em>sometimes</em>."</p><p>"Master Roku..." Aang faced him. Or rather, his clay statue and started a conversation. "You and I haven't exactly met, but I can't help to wonder how I was once like you. I've heard so many great and inspiring stories from monk Gyatso, yet I'm still at lost on where to begin my own journey as Avatar..."</p><p>Poor Aang. If only the world isn't as chaotic as it is now, then we wouldn't really push you so hard being it's saviour.</p><p>"Well, I guess there's nothing more I wanted to say. But, I do hope you'll be there alongside me when time comes." Aang bowed before Roku's statue. "All of you. Master Kiyoshi. Master Kuruk. Everyone."</p><p>Katara eventually walked up to Aang in comfort and spoke. "Don't worry, Aang. These, um, statues will be there. And so will Poseidon, Sokka, and I."</p><p>"Thanks, Katara."</p><p>"So, what now?" Asked Sokka. "I thought someone was supposed to be here and teach you a lesson."</p><p>"Same here, I don't really know now." Our current Avatar confessed.</p><p>"Well, you did say that after this, we should try going to Kiy—"</p><p>My words suddenly halted as the four of us heard footsteps coming from back the halls of which we came from. We all quieted down to silent whispers and hid behind any large object — statues, that's about all there is inside here anyway.</p><p>"<em>Who's that</em>?"</p><p>"<em>How should I know</em>? <em>I thought everyone left</em>."</p><p>Sokka leaned to check, but only caught a glimpse of whatever it may be's shadowy figure. "<em>Firebender</em>."</p><p>"<em>Are you sure</em>?"</p><p>"<em>Positive</em>."</p><p>He then proceeded to pull out his boomerang and stood ready, but he did this thing with his hands that I'm not entirely sure I understand. He keeps pointing at me, then back to the enemy and doing a weird two handed demon summoning ritual.</p><p>"<em>What are you doing</em>?"</p><p>"<em>I said </em><b><em>you </em></b><em>do some of your sick, awesome waterbending skills to knock the guy down while Katara, Aang, and I sneak up behind them for a surprise counterattack on both sides</em>!"</p><p>"<em>Wait a minute, stop</em>! <em>I can't attack a firebender</em>!"</p><p>"<em>Why not</em>? <em>You did it once before during the Aang rescue mission</em>."</p><p>"<em>When</em>?" I continued arguing as I try hard to remember the moments I laid hands on someone who controls flames. "<em>All I did was deflect a ball of fire</em>. <em>That's a huge difference from actually inflicting assault on some random dude</em>."</p><p>"<em>Poseidon</em>, <em>these guys hurt tons of people just so they can achieve their goals and they'll continue doing so if we do nothing about it</em>. <em>Are you seriously telling me that you're ok with this</em>?"</p><p>"<em>Of course</em>, <em>I'm not! But, it's not as though I have a choice, I'm actually prohibited from performing any bending on the people of the Fire nation</em>."</p><p>"<em>Prohibited</em>?" He repeated. "<em>What do you me—</em>"</p><p>"Um, Sokka..." Katara interrupted, to which her twin brother raised an eyebrow in question. "What's that on top your head?"</p><p>"On top of my..." Sokka raised his left arm and felt the small, little, and cute flying lemur sitting nonchalantly. "...head?"</p><p>He screamed and thrashed around like he did earlier when Aang faked a snake crawling up his sleeping bag, but this time, he was more violent even though the lemur was already off of him and rested on top of my shoulder instead. Eventually he calmed down, but not before running head first into master Szeto's Avatar statue.</p><p>"Well, aren't you cute?" I petted the flying lemur, but it instead ran all around my body.</p><p>"Hey, it's a flying lemur!" Aang pointed out.</p><p>"A flying what?" Sokka groaned heavily, rubbing the side of his face while getting back up.</p><p>"<em>A flying lemur</em>. Their really cool, trust me."</p><p>"But very mischievous." I added.</p><p>Aang laughed in agreement. "Well, you're right about that, but it looks as though we have another addition to the team!"</p><p>"Um, Aang." Katara called out.</p><p>"Yeah? What is it, Katara?"</p><p>"Since our quote-on-quote firebender is actually just a harmless creature," She shot a look at Sokka. "Shouldn't we be on our way now that there's nothing else here worth noting about?"</p><p>"I guess so. There's no use prolonging our adventure anymore."</p><p>As a matter of fact, there's actually one more little tiny thing that we needed to deal with before heading out. I headed over to Sokka and whispered closely to his hear. "You still hungry?"</p><p>"<b>Very</b>."</p><p>His mouth suddenly watered intensely as he kept fantasising about food. "You'll be wanting this then, huh?"</p><p>I pulled out a small piece of rectangular shaped from my pocket and waved it across his even more watery face. "It's pretty delicious if I must say so myself. Sadly, this is the last one I have. Here, you can have it."</p><p>"Really?" He smiled from ear to ear as he tried grabbing it from my hands, but only to slip when I put out of his reach.</p><p>"<em>Really</em>." I said while tossing it to the flying lemur on Aang's arm. "If you can snatch it up before our new found friend eats it, of course."</p><p>"Wha—"</p><p>"Go on, Momo." I shooed. And don't ask me where that name came from. It just popped into my brain.</p><p>"THAT'S... MY... FOOD!" He yelled.</p><p>Fortunately, Momo already started running and Sokka shortly followed. Now, for step 2...</p><p>"Hey, Aang, aren't you gonna try and stop Sokka?"</p><p>"For what? Seems like they're just having good fun."</p><p>"Are they though? The look on Sokka's face like he wanted more than just that tiny piece of snack I brought."</p><p>"Poseidon, you're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting, are you?"</p><p>I shrugged.</p><p>"Katara, you don't think that, right?"</p><p>"W-Well, my brother <b>can </b>get a bit crazy at times like this, but I don't think th—"</p><p>And just like that, the young airnomad was off chasing the two who left earlier, leaving Katara and I alone together inside the sanctuary to have a good talk. Let's try our best to convince her in telling Aang the truth now, shall we?</p><p> </p>
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